Improvement in mainspring-indicators for watches



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i G. P. REED. Maln-Sprlng Indicators for Watches. N0,15l,243,PatentedMay26\874 rra rares G EUR@ E l?.

t ED, (TF BSTON, MASSACHUSE"TS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No 151.2413, dated May '26,18T/l; application iiled August 29, 1871.

To il lwhom it may concern:

Ile it known that I, Geenen P. Renn, of Boston, in the county oi'Suffolk and State of hlassachusetts, have made an invention otl a newand useful Improvement in lVatches; and do hereby declare the ibllowingto be a i'ull, clear, and exact description thereof, due reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, making part of this spcciiication, andin which- Figure 1 is a tace view of the lower or main plate of a watchwith my improvements applied thereto, Fig. 2 being a dial-face view,showin g the dials and hands impressed thereupon, while Fig. 3 is avertical section ot' the same.

The purpose of my present improvement is to apply to a watch of my ownproduction, and containing several inventions patented by myself, anup-and-down hand, so calledthat is to say, a hand and dial or scalecombined with the dialface, which, being connected with the barrel ormainspring, shall indicate the extent to which the spring may be woundup, and enables the owner of a watch to ascertain at a glance whether ornot it requires winding. rIhis invention is adapted to a system oi'containing and winding the mainspring of a watch, and the additionthereto ot a maintaining power for keeping the watch in motion while thespring is being wound up, such as is shown in Letters Patent ci' theUnited States numbered 17,055, and issued to me on the 14th day ofApril, 1857, the distinguishing feature ot' which is the employment of alixed barrel for containing the spring' while the main wheel and arborrevolve.

This invention consists in the combination, with the stationary barreland rotating' mainwheel arbor projecting through the cap-plate ot' saidbarrel, of a pinion iixed on said projecting end of said arbor, and aspur-gear mounted and revolving on a post or stationary arbor iixed onthc cap-plate of said barrel, and carrying an index-hand to operate inconnection with an upan d-do wn dial, as here inaitcr specified.

The drawings accompanying this specification represent at A the mainplate of a watch 5 at I3, the stop-works plate or bridge, at C,

the barrel-arbor, and at I), the barrel oi' a watch, substantially as isshown in Letters Patent hereinbeiore alluded to, the cap-plate of thisbarrel, which constitutes part thereof, being shown at E as let into thedial side of the plate A, and with the surfaces of the two flush, orthercabont.

In carrying my present improvement into practice, I extend the arbor Gthrough the cap-plate E, and I afiix to it, in close proximity to suchcap-plate, a toothed pinion, a, while alongside ci' or above the saidpinion, and meshing into it, I dispose a spur-gear, b,

mounted upon a post, c, erected upon the cap-l plate E, as represented.The post c extends through the dial-plate of the watch, which is shownat d, and carries at its extremity, and immediately outside of thedial-plate, a hand or index pointer, c, this hand operating inconnection with a segmental concentric dial or scale, f, impressed orengraved upon the dial -face, and diamctrically opposite and above theseconds-hand thereof, this index or scale, as herein shown, beingiive-sevenths of a circle. The words Up and Down are impressed orenameled upon the dial-face, one to each end oi" the index, the latterword being at that end of the scale which the hand approaches while themainspring is relaxing or running down. As betere observed, the numberof teeth of the pinion and of the gear are to be so proportioned to thelength of the dial f and the number of revolutions ot' the arbor andpinion, that during forty hours7 running, or iive rotations of themainwheel arbor, the hand c shall travel from the up7 end ot' the scale,which indicates that the spring is wound up, to the down end of suchscale, which indicates that the spring is run down to the full extentwhich the stopworks will allow. For instance, in the present case, thebarrel-arbor describes five rotations in forty hours, and the pinioncontains eight teeth; consequently, in order that the five rotations oithe arbor shall eii'ect a partial rotation of the gear and hand throughthe ivesevenths of a circle which constitutes the extent of the dial f,the number ot' teeth upon such gear should be fiityfsix. In thiscombination, which is the extreme of simplicity, cheapness, andaccuracy, the only elements additional to the watch proper are thepinion a, `aear b, hand c, and post c, with the dial and these oeeupy nospace of value. The eear and its Supporting-arbor can, by reason of thestationary barrel, be brought near to the Central pinion a, being`mounted on the cap-plate or head itself of the barrel, an arrangementthat eonduees materially to the economical results above noted.

I desire to state in conclusion that I do not Claim, broadly, combiningau up-and-down hand with a Watch; but* .Vhat I do claim, and desire toSecure by Letters Patent, is-

